Entries in captured
(4)

Kevin Horan/Stone(CHICAGO) -- A convicted murderer who was mistakenly released from a Chicago jail is back in custody Saturday, after authorities used leads and interviews with his family and friends to successfully track him down.

Steven L. Robbins, 44, of Gary, Ind., was rearrested without incident late Friday night in northeastern Illinois, and is in the custody of the Cook County Sheriff's Office, said Sheriff Thomas J. Dart in a news release.

Robbins was improperly released from jail as a result of what Dart had called "a clerical error" that was chalked up to an outdated paperwork system.

Robbins was serving a 60-year prison sentence after being convicted of shooting a man who tried to break up an altercation Robbins was having with his wife in Indiana in 2002.

He was brought to Chicago by Cook County sheriff's deputies on Wednesday for 20-year-old outstanding criminal warrant involving drug charges -- but unbeknownst to authorities, the case had actually been dismissed in 2007, reported ABC News Chicago station WLS.

Following the court appearance, Robbins was taken to a jail on the South Side of Chicago, and was subsequently released later in the day, rather than returning to Indiana to continue serving his murder sentence.

Robbins walked out of jail in civilian clothing given to him by the jail, according to ABC's Chicago affiliate WLS.

The Cook County Sheriff's Office launched a campaign to apprehend Robbins on Friday.

Sheriff Thomas Dart pointed to the office's paper records system for the serious slip up.

"Because no paperwork had gone to the jail about him coming from Indiana, all the people in the records room saw was a guy whose court case was dismissed," he said. "And so he -- like another 200 people a day we release -- was released...out the front door of the jail.

"It's all a paper system," Dart said. "And so when people start thinking it's maybe an inside job, the unfortunate reality is all these different detainees that we're dealing with every day -- and we move 1,500 a day -- the entire trail is a paper trail. It's not a computer message from the courtroom to the jail saying, 'Keep him for another 30 days or release him.' It's a piece of paper. We're not happy that it's that way. We've been trying to get it computerized, but it's not there."

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(TAMPA, Fla.) -- The mystery monkey of Tampa Bay, who became a local celebrity, has been captured after spending two years on the lam.

Officials from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission waited four hours for the wild rhesus macaque to appear in an area where it had been seen in recent days and tranquilized him with a dart, said Baryl Martin, a Fish and Wildlife official who has been on the monkey’s trail.

Martin said the monkey appeared to be “doing all right” and was being evaluated by a veterinarian.

Earlier this month, the 40-pound monkey jumped on a woman’s back at her home and bit her twice, Martin said, underscoring the need to catch the fugitive primate.

The wild rhesus macaque enjoyed some celebrity during his years of freedom. He was mentioned on The Colbert Report and a Facebook page in his honor garnered more than 86,000 likes.

Once the monkey receives a clean bill of health, Martin said he will likely be sent to a local exotic animal facility until a good home can be found for him.

Jupiterimages/Thinkstock(HALIFAX, N.C.) -- An escaped killer from a North Carolina prison survived on the lam for five days eating acorns and was captured Thursday when he ventured into a town looking for water, authorities told ABC News.

James Ladd, 51, was captured in the garage of a home just 10 miles from the Tillery Correctional Center, the minimum security prison farm in Halifax, N.C., which he escaped from on Sunday morning.

Authorities received a tip that Ladd was in the area and began searching when a passersby pointed them to the garage where a man matching Ladd's description had been spotted, said Keith Acree, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety.

Ladd "was on his own" and did not appear to have received help, Acree said.

When Ladd was discovered he was wearing his black prison-issued trousers and a coat that he acquired outside the prison, Acree said.

Ladd told authorities he had "been rambling in the woods," surviving on acorns and entered town to look for water.

Ladd, convicted of the 1980 robbery and shooting death of two men in Yadkin County, had been sentenced to three consecutive life sentences. On account of good behavior in prison for 31 years, he had been transferred to a minimum security prison farm. Authorities found his abandoned tractor at 10 a.m. on Sunday morning, leading to a statewide manhunt.

Bloodhounds quickly lost his scent and helicopters were unable to spot him.

Ladd was captured two days after his mother, Lena Ladd, told ABC News that her son was "smart enough" to stay on the lam without getting caught.

He is currently being held at the central prison in Raleigh and has been charged with escape.

John Foxx/Thinkstock (File Photo)(HOWELL, N.J.) -- A runaway baboon on the loose in the Garden State since last week has been captured.

The baboon was found on a farm near Fairfield and Merrick Roads in Howell, N.J. around 2:40 p.m. on Saturday. He appeared unharmed, according to New York ABC News affiliate WABC-TV.

Officials at Six Flags Great Adventure believe the baboon belongs to the amusement park's Monkey Jungle.

The baboon was tranquilized and brought to the park for a physical exam and health assessment.

All of the park's baboons are vaccinated and microchipped, but are not counted every night because they sleep outside in a large enclosure, Great Adventure spokeswoman Kristin Siebeneicher told the Asbury Park Press.

The Monkey Jungle is home to 150 baboons and it would be difficult to determine if one is missing, she said.

Although the animal in question did not have a microchip, Great Adventure officials said it felt confident it is the baboon escaped from the park.